Fire Heavily Damages Cavour Business

A small northeast South Dakota community has one less business after a morning fire destroyed the only restaurant and bar in Cavour.

A passerby saw the fire a little after 5:00 Monday morning and called it in.

"Half hour to 45 minutes, we had most of the major fire knocked down," fire chief Josh Kogel said.

Law enforcement shut down a stretch of U.S. Highway 14 and rerouted traffic through town. Smoke covered the highway and firefighters needed to park their trucks on the road.

They battled icy conditions and challenges that come when flames tear through an old building. Because of multiple remodels and additions over the years, the building had pockets where fire could spread but firefighters couldn't reach.

"So you have to tear it down, kind of like we did here," Kogel said.

The State Fire Marshal's office is investigating. It hasn’t determined a cause.

Cavour's fire chief isn't sure if the owner can salvage any of the structure. Areas of the building flames didn't take out still have heavy smoke damage. The owner carried insurance. He isn't sure if he'll rebuild but says he hopes to.

Geoff Gogolan lives in Cavour and was one of the first firefighters on the scene.

"It's just hard because there's not a lot here. It's just one thing less in this town," Gogolan said.

Law enforcement opened Highway 14 through Cavour about two and a half hours after first re-routing traffic.